April 16
“And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit.” (Ephesians 5:18)
Yesterday we discussed the importance of eliminating sin (things that grieve and quench the Spirit) and learning to listen and obey the Spirit as key steps to being filled with the Spirit, which involves the difficult steps of denying ourselves and disciplining our bodies to do what is best and not what is easy or fun.
In addition, a few days ago we also talked about the role that praising and thanking God plays and how that certainly facilitates being filled with the Spirit. Taking it even further, exhorting and building up others in various ways, and spreading a joyful, thankful spirit, can help start the Spirit working in others as well. Like the logs of a fire keeping each other warm to allow the fire to grow hotter, so our exhortations of others can facilitate the Spirit’s working in all of us.
Once we have done these things, we should be filled with the Spirit. The only other suggestion I would offer is to regularly ask the Lord to fill you with His Spirit. Is this your goal? Do you seek after Him and want to be filled with Him? I think we all ought to be seeking this on a daily basis. So it seems to me we ought to be asking Him to fill us and show us how to be filled. We quench Him in so many ways, it seems to me, ways that we don’t notice or realize. We need Him making us aware of these things, opening our eyes to how we ought to change, asking him to show us sins to overcome, asking Him to help us do the difficult tasks, asking Him to show us who we should reach out to, asking Him to give us His peace and joy, asking Him to make us useful vessels for His service.
We need to be asking, asking, asking. There is so much to ask for, so much help to receive, so much wisdom required, so much strength needed, so much progress to be made that only He can make. I am convinced that most of us don’t ask nearly enough, and if we don’t ask, guess what? It probably won’t happen. We probably won’t be filled with the Spirit, we probably won’t accomplish much for His kingdom, we probably won’t fully overcome those nasty nagging sins, we probably wont’ be able to change, and we probably won’t experience His peace and joy. If there is one thing you take away from these words, it would be to ASK God for many things, ASK Him frequently, ASK Him with persevering faith, ASK Him with urgency, and ASK for the blessings and fullness of His Spirit until He grants these requests. Those who do this will receive the things they ask, and will be transformed people, capable of accomplishing anything for His kingdom.